Exams Officer Update
2 November 2023 |
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Welcome to this week’s Exams Officer Update.
Whether you’re new to the role or you’re an experienced examinations officer, we’ve developed a useful essential information guide. The article is designed to support you with processes and common questions you may have throughout the academic year.
We also launched the Pearson Development Hub earlier this year- a dedicated space for exams officer training. We have created this as part of our commitment to you to offer enhanced support and training in 2023 and beyond. We've produced a guide to accessing the hub, and we'll let you know in this update whenever new training modules are available. |
| Exams Officer Update live sessions |
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During the event, we will go through news, updates and processes for the coming weeks and give you the opportunity to ask any questions you may have. You can view recordings of previous events on our Pearson Development Hub. |
If you have learners entered to sit external assessments this January, you can track the question paper despatch on Edexcel Online. Watch the step-by-step video guide on our support portal. |
1 November is our deadline to make BTEC registrations for programmes that follow the academic year. You should make BTEC registrations by the end of 1 November to avoid any late fees.
Read our guide to making BTEC registrations.
If you are still yet to submit your registrations and require further support, we have recently launched a bitesize on-demand e-Learning module covering BTEC registrations, which goes through the process step-by-step with guidance from members of our training team. You can access this on our Pearson Development Hub, our dedicated training site for BTEC administrators.
Access BTEC registrations e-Learning on the Pearson Development Hub.
Where learners have completed a BTEC programme and are moving on to a larger sized qualification this year, you should “top up” these learners and not create a new registration. You can create a top-up once the learner’s previous qualification has been certificated. We have issued summer certification in October, ahead of schedule to allow you to process top ups.
Read our guide to topping up registrations.
This year, all schools, colleges and training providers must maintain accurate estimated completion dates for all their learners as we progress through the year. This is essential to maintain an accurate picture of your 2023/24 cohort, and we can track these learners through to completion.
Unsure of which estimated completion date a learner needs or need extra support? Read our comprehensive guide to maintaining estimated completion dates. |
| Date |
Description |
| 1 November |
Registration deadline for (BTEC Firsts, Nationals, L2 Technicals and Tech Awards) |
| 15 November |
Registration deadline for L4 and L5 HNs, L3 and L4 Foundation Diplomas in Art & Design |
| 23 November |
Summer 2024 external assessment basedata issued for BTEC Firsts, Nationals, L2 Technicals and Tech Award |
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Annual Quality Declaration |
Thank you to all centres who completed the Annual Quality Declaration (AQD) before the 14 October deadline. The AQD is an essential activity for all centres delivering vocational qualifications with us, so if you were unable to meet the deadline, please complete and submit your centre’s AQD as soon as possible.
We’ve produced a short video to help you with your AQD completion, as well as our Annual Quality Declaration (AQD) Guidance 2023 - 2024 guidance document.
Non-completion of your Annual Quality Declaration could affect your centre risk rating. Any centres that do not complete this activity will be referred to our centre quality management team. |
Lead internal verifier standardisation |
Centres delivering qualifications covered by BTEC quality assurance must register a lead internal verifier (LIV) for each programme. LIVs must then complete standardisation, the deadline for which was 14 October. As the deadline is now passed it is essential that this is completed and submitted as soon as possible. See the BTEC Centre Guide for Lead Internal Verifiers 2023 - 2024 for support. |
Paper-based on-demand test bookings in December |
You will be aware that there is usually a 14-day lead time for making paper-based on-demand test bookings for Functional Skills. In December, to mitigate any risk of delays around the festive period, we will be making a small change to that standard process to ensure we are able to print and despatch test materials to arrive in good time for the test date booked.
In the period from 1 December 2023 to 28 December 2023, you will not be able to make a Functional Skills paper-based on-demand test booking for any date from 29 December 2023 to 12 January 2024. You will still be able to book all other dates as normal.
From 29 December 2023, we will revert to our standard process and you will be able to book paper-based on-demand tests as normal.
This change only affects Functional Skills paper-based on-demand test bookings you make between 1 and 28 December 2023. Any bookings made prior to 1 December 2023 will still be processed as normal. |
You can expect to receive question papers for students sitting Core exams this November from Monday 6 November and attendance registers from Wednesday 8 November.
The yellow label service will be in place for providers to return scripts.
Stay up to date with the latest on T Levels and read October’s T Level newsletter on our website |
| Date |
Qualification |
Details |
| 2 November |
GCSE November 2023 |
November 2023 series - amendment fees will be charged from this date |
| 3 November |
ESOL (Chinese & French) November 2023 |
End of window for speaking tests |
| 5 November |
GCSE November 2023 |
Final date for submitting GCSE English Language, Spoken Language Endorsement Grades |
| 6 November |
GCSE November 2023 |
Date of first examination on common timetable |
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You may find our Making academic entries page helpful for support with making entries using EDI or Edexcel Online, as well as these articles from our support portal:
If any of your learners sitting these examinations have special needs, it is important your centre applies for arrangements on their behalf.
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JCQ General Regulations for Approved Centres (section 5.3, (j) Conflicts of Interest) states that centres must inform the awarding body, before the published deadline for entries, of:
- any members of centre staff who are taking qualifications at their own centre which include internally assessed components/units
- any members of centre staff who are teaching and preparing members of their family (which includes step-family, foster family and similar close relationships) or close friends and their immediate family (e.g. son/daughter) for qualifications which include internally assessed components/units.
Please note that when entering members of centre staff for qualifications with internally assessed components at their own centre, this must be as a last resort in cases where the member of centre staff is unable to find another centre.
Declarations can be submitted to us via our Declaration of Interest form which can be found here.
Centres must also maintain clear records of all instances where:
- exams office staff have members of their family (which includes step-family, foster family and similar close relationships) or close friends and their immediate family (e.g. son/daughter) being entered for examinations and assessments either at the centre itself or other centres;
- centre staff are taking qualifications at their centre which do not include internally assessed components/units;
- centre staff are taking qualifications at other centres.
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With the November exam series coming up we’re pleased to let you know that the equation list will be retained for the November 2023 examination series for Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Physics (4PH1) and International GCSE Science Double Award (4SD0) for components 4PH1/1P, 4PH1/2P and 4SD0/1P.
This means that students will have access to an equation list in the exam room showing all relevant equations. The equation list will be available as an additional insert inside the exam paper, and it will be the same as the one provided to students in the summer 2023 exam series.
You can download the equation list and share it with your students so they can familiarise themselves with it ahead of the exams. Centres will need to download the summer 2023 version for this purpose - only the date on the front cover will change to reflect the November 2023 exam series.
Read more about this within the Science update and download the equation sheet for your students today. |
November 2024 Final timetable
The November 2024 GCSE Timetable has now been finalised and will be available on our website from Friday 13 October.
All timetables can be found on our qualifications website. |
In preparation for the upcoming exam series, we've put together a comprehensive support article for Exam Officers containing guidance and direct links to key information and support available:
EO Support: Autumn & Winter 2023/24 Essential Information
This article is designed with both new and experienced Exams Officers in mind and covers the following topics:
- Entries & Key Dates
- Access Arrangements & Reasonable Adjustments
- Modified Papers
- Question Paper Dispatch
- Attendance Registers & Delivery Labels
- Timetables & Examination Guidance
- Coursework & Non-Examined Assessments
- Special Considerations
- Results & Post-Results
Please bookmark this page for easy access. |
Whether you are preparing for the November 2023 series or have learners intending to take BTEC external assessments in the January 2024 series, it is important for you to stay up to date with the official exam regulations.
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We want to ensure you have all the help and support you need at your fingertips; that’s why we’ve got a library of support articles hosted on our Customer Support Portal. Each article contains answers, detailed information, step-by-step guides, instructional videos, and general advice. Articles require no special access, are easily searchable by keywords in their title, and are available 24/7, 365 days a year. And for good measure, we also have the portal user guide.
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As part of our approach to providing better, more tailored support for new and existing Exams Officers, we are offering BTEC 1-2-1 training, with both the content and date/time being decided by you.
The specific goal of this service is to provide an additional layer of support with the administration of our BTEC qualifications.
We are offering this service to all BTEC customers. See our BTEC Clinic support page to find out more and book onto your tailored session. |
Don't forget we have dedicated Pearson Exams Officer Support pages on Facebook. This provides you with a quick and convenient way to stay up to date with our latest news and advice.
Both pages are monitored 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, by Seren, Emma and Charlie on our Social Media team, so please feel free to message them with your quick queries or comments.
While we can answer your general queries online, specific queries should be submitted via the Pearson support portal to ensure you get the best advice from our Customer Services team. |
Sign up to receive these updates
If you would like to sign any of your colleagues up to receive these updates, you can do so here. You can view previous editions of the EO Update on our support portal. |
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